August

Being Brave is doing something in spite of being scared. Colvin had to be brave and go to school on his own.  Then he had to be responsible and pick up Azalyn.

Tender mercies: Azalyn watched all the Welcome videos from the kindergarten teachers and wanted Mrs. Smith. Guess who she got, Mrs. Smith. Azalyn had a hard few days getting out of the car. I could not walk her in, and she was NOT ok with that.  We had to make a reward chart for every day she gets out.

Colvin’s new thing is Roses are red poems. I wrote him a note for school, “Roses are Red Violets are Blue, and I love you.” He needs to know how much he is loved. Colvin did not like the first few weeks of school. LIFE did not help the stress of school. I told him to give me one week. When Denali got home, and life settled down, he decided that school was not so bad. He also has his best friend from last year in his class. He hates “pick up”, he is terrified I am going to forget him. His favorite part is Lunch! There is free hot lunch this year.  Colvin is a little bit of a worrier. (thanks McCarty!)  Denali was telling him about a summer (9ms away) play he could be part of.  He was freaking out about where he would go, would I remember to pick him up, I told him to breathe and YES it would all work out.

The week Denali was in the hospital church was hard. A few people knew and asked about him and our family. I was so grateful for their asking and concerned, but I WAS not going to cry or break down in church. Autopilot was best in the middle of a crisis. I did have one take away; don’t ask just to. Even if it is something little like bringing a snack.

We are so BLESSED to get Denali home: see other post. His body won a war. When we had his follow up the doctor said another 12-24 hours we would have had a very different story. I know the lord is aware of us no matter what BUT I am 100% blessed to have all 3 kids still.  Denali’s recovery is still on going and until Sep 20^th (final surgery) it will be a battle.  His poor body is wiped out. He has not officially (end of Aug) made it to a FULL week of school. He sleeps in the office and yes both his siblings now sleep with him. Who is going to fight the monsters for them?

We had an early monsoon rain, and it was fun to go play in. We all played in it for about 5 min. Then Azalyn and Colvin jumped on the tramp in the water. When they finally jumped in the pool, I guarantee they did not get any wetter in the pool than what they already were.  The hardest part for Denali is seeing things he just cannot do right now or wanting to do more.

Greg and I’s body is recovering from all the stress. One day I went upstairs to rest for 30 min. I forgot to set an alarm and 60min later I opened my eyes I had not moved.

The best way to love where you live is to experience it. Our library has free museum passes. We went to one in Phoenix. They had tons of cool artifacts. We lasted about 2 hours.

Some just FUN life: I tortured Greg and made him watch 3 seasons of Sanderton, it is a Jain Austain inspired film. I loved it, Greg endured it. I got a really bad yeast infection, online it said alcohol, so I put some rubbing alcohol on a cotton ball. WELL, yes it did help but WOW I could not describe the pain. With the kids I made cloud Dough: 1 cup corn starch and ½ cup hair conditioner SO FUN, but a mess make outside.

Great NOTE: I asked a friend at church who she uses for an ENT, at one time she had mentioned that she liked her ENT. I LOVE them, they were FAST they let me buy ear plugs and listened to Azalyn when she said I Swim in the morning and at night. Going to take out the old plugs and put in new ones.

Colvin when to a Primary activity day about family history and LOVED it. Now at church he plays on the family history app. My Aunt Donita had put a ton of family pictures and looking at them I realized how much I really do miss my grandparents. They were awesome, but I know they are doing so much good in Heaven.

We watched a stripling warrior video for Come Follow Me, there was an intense part where the stripling warriors were running from the Lamanite’s. Azalyn yells RUN! Colvin says everyone Chill out we know this story none of them gets hurt.  Every day I put armer on my kids and send them out. Every night we have to repair their armer and get it ready for battle the next day.

Plug in for Friends: I love Marco polo because I can do it on my time. But I am so grateful for technology so we can stay in touch.

We have been trying to do more. We went to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. It was so FUN. We stayed the night in Willimas and there was a restaurant, La Casita, yes, we had to try it. It was OK! The Canyon was really FUN. Because Colvin is a 4^th grader, he gets a national park pass for free. We went on a mile hike with NO guard rails. I held tight to Azalyn’s hand 90% of the time. Colvin stayed on the other side of the trail. Greg and Denali wanted to see how close they could get. Seeing that majestic land scape you have to feel God.

Azalyn gave her first talk in Primary: 

By small things great thing come to pass.

It is easy to help water my dad’s flowers.

It is easy to help my brothers when they get hurt.

It is easy to be reverent when I pray.

And it makes God happy.

My new mind set; not What IF but Even IF, I cannot think what IF when it comes to Denali, but I had to think Even IF would I been ok.  YES, but OK is relevant. I still would have known that God loves me, and he has a plan for me, BUT there would have been some hard soul-searching questions.

The Young Men did the coolest thing. They took all Young Men to the temple and the Priest baptized the deacons. What a bond.

I thought that I would have so much free time now that my kids are all in school but NOPE, I am almost busier, but I am not just picking up but deep cleaning.

Greg is on to DIY’s; he replaced my sink. With just a single deep basin. It was a much bigger job than we anticipated. However, I am pleased to announce that we got it in, and we did not even fight. There are a few touch ups we have to do but I have a working sink.